Governors of the nine oil-producing Niger Delta states have resolved to mobilise against the newly announced board and management of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).
President Muhammadu Buhari had, on Tuesday, approved a 16-man new board of the NDDC, with Dr. Pius Odubu from Edo State as the chairman.
A statement signed by the Permanent Secretary (General Services Office), Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Olusegun Adekunle, also named a former finance commissioner in Delta State, Bernard Okumagba as the managing director of the intervention agency.
Otobong Ndem from Akwa Ibom was appointed as the Executive Director, Projects while Maxwell Okoh from Bayelsa State was named as Executive Director, Finance.
But a source close to one of the South-South governors told our correspondent that the governors are unhappy, hinging their stance on non-consultation.
The source said that Transport Minister, Rotimi Amaechi, who had dictated the selection and appointment of previous top shots of the NDDC, is reportedly angry that he was not consulted.
The governors at the meeting, which held at the Bayelsa Governor’s Lodge in Abuja, resolved to meet with President Buhari to register their protest as soon as he returns from his Japan trip.
The governors who met yesterday in Abuja, however, called for calm by indigenes of the region who have been demonstrating since the new board was put in place.
Bayelsa State governor, Henry Seriake Dickson who addressed journalists at the end of the meeting, said critical issues concerning oil producing states would be tabled before President Buhari at the proposed meeting.
“We intend as a body to meet with president in no distance future. It is necessary we do that so we can maintain the existing peace in our region. However, we call for calm, because we are aware people have been protesting since the new board was announced,” Dickson stated.
Four governors and two deputy attended the meeting. The governors are that of Bayelsa, Akwa Ibom, Edo and Ondo, while the deputy governors of Imo and Abia represented their governors.
A source told New Telegraph that the governors at the meeting expressed concerns over the composition of the NDDC board.
“There is more to what is being done as far as the announcement is concerned. The governors have met and they resolved to pursue their agitation to the president himself.
“Several issues were raised because the haste with which the announcement was made in the absence of the president is itself suspicious. For instance, North-Central was omitted and Lagos was included to represent South-West; that is a grave error because Ondo is already South-West. This is against the law; and until the law is amended, it is an aberration as it is now.
“The most important of all the deliberate omission of the Act as it relates to the position of the Board Chairman is that it is the turn of Delta State to produce the chairman, not Edo State. It must be corrected.
“Also, we cannot say the Transport Minister is now inconsequential in the scheme of things. He had risked himself and some stakeholders feel it was a slight on him to be shut out of the process. It is unfair for him to be that treated.
“The law establishing the commission is very unambiguous and once there is an infraction, it leaves much to be desired. But if those behind this anomaly decide to push the list to the Senate, we shall meet there and sort it out,” the source said.
Aside Okumagba, Obudu and the two executive directors others nominated are Etue Jones, Delta State; Victor Ekhatar from Edo State; Joy Nunieh from Rivers State; Nwogu Nwogu from Abia State; Theodore Allison from Bayelsa State; Victor Antai from Akwa Ibom State; Maurice Effiwatt from Cross River State; Olugbenga Edema from Ondo State; Uchegbu Kyrian from Imo State; and Aisha Muhammed from Kano State representing North-West area on the board.
From Adamawa State, President Buhari appointed Ardo Zubairu to represent the North-East; while Badmus Mutalib was appointed from Lagos State to represent the South-West region on the NDDC board.
Credit: New Telegraph Newspapers